Afterwards
by Ereshkigali
Summary: So...anyone else ever wondered what happens AFTER the last episode? [TyKa] [oneshot] [spoiler alert]


**Reshki's Random Ramblings:** I wrote most of this while stuck at home with a cold. I believe I was listening to my dad's Simon and Garfunkel collection at the time - if I knew why, I'd tell you. In any case, I was attacked by a legion of evil fluff bunnies, and produced this: a pointless, happily insane, smallish-type oneshot featuring, as always, Kai and Tyson! One day I'm going to force myself to write something different. One day.

**Timeline:** Directly after the last episode of GRev – and it's from Tyson's PoV. I realised that I've written a lot of Kai-drooling-over-Tyson, but not much Tyson-drooling-over-Kai. So here I go. Also, I take slight liberties with the canon, because Tyson doesn't actually realise that Dranzer's gone, does he? I was never too clear on that.

**Warnings:** This fic contains the mention of blood, and large amounts of sappy shonen-ai. Also, if you haven't seen GRev, a lot of this could be classified as spoiler-type material. I accidentally read a truly evil spoiler for the last couple of eps before I saw them, which pretty much sucked, and I really don't want to do the same thing to anyone else. FEAR THE EVIL SPOILERS!

**The Big D:** I don't own any of the characters mentioned in this fic. If I did, their love lives would a _lot_ more interesting…

* * *

In a way, it was kind of sad. 

Looking back, everything was sort of messed up, I guess. I mean, the BBA was having to start all over again, and the Bladebreakers were totally scattered, and no one had figured out which teams they were going to stick with, and…I just got that feeling that nothing was ever going to be the same again, you know?

And then there was Kai.

Not even going to get started on him.

If you really want to know, I guess the first time I knew I loved him was during his battle against Brooklyn. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. I thought I was going to lose him forever. I knew, though, that I had to trust him. I knew he was strong enough to win. I just didn't know if he was strong enough to live through it. I'd been crying as I watched him in that battle. I was terrified he wouldn't make it – and the idea of losing him again, so soon after having found him, was killing me. I mean, what was I supposed to do without him? He was _Kai_. He was everything.

Walking back to us, he had tripped, exhausted, and I had caught him. The way he had clung to me then – I knew he would never have let anyone else touch him like that. It was kind of a weird feeling, knowing that I was so important to him, but I don't think I was thinking about that then. All I was thinking about was him. I can remember feeling his warm weight collapse into my arms, his body slumping against mine, the blood from the open wounds on his arms dripping everywhere, soaking into my shirt. Just those few seconds of closeness, when I could hold him to me and pretend that everything was going to be alright, and then he was gone, limping out of the stadium. The cuts on his arms were like thick, bright mouths, leering at me. It hurt me even to look at him.

I think I knew then, as he walked away from me, still trying to look strong and in control, still out to prove himself, that no matter what he said, something was wrong. I knew then that Dranzer was dying.

How much can one person sacrifice? How much can one person give up? To save Beyblading, he'd given up Dranzer; to save his status as blader, he'd given up blading forever; and to save me from having to do these things, he'd almost given his life.

It would be kind of hard, after all that, not to fall in love with the guy.

* * *

He was sitting on the swing, one foot resting on the seat, his arms wrapped around his leg, his chin resting on his knee. It was a little difficult to see him properly, 'cause the sun had set a little while ago, and it was getting kind of dark. Looking up, I could just see one teensy little star winking at me in the pale air. The moon had just risen, thin and new and silvery. He must have heard my footsteps as I approached, but he didn't look up. He was too busy staring at the ground, as usual. Cool. You do that, dude. Keep that ground well and truly stared at. 

You know how when you see someone you just really, _really_ like, and you get this warm, happy feeling inside you, like you know something really nice is about to happen?

Well, that's how I feel every time I see Kai.

Don't ask, 'cause I'm still figuring it out myself. I never even realised how much he meant to me till he just decided to join up with the Blitzkrieg Boyz again. In between shouting at him and wanting to punch his head in and generally hating the guy, I ended up realising that I missed him.

A lot.

I'd come to depend on him being there, I guess. No matter what, he'd always stuck by me – that was one thing that hadn't changed. OK, so half the time he hadn't even spoken to me or looked at me or even acted like I was alive, never mind standing in front of him waving a doughnut in his face, but he'd been there. It wasn't like he'd ever let us down. I'd started to allow myself to believe that maybe he did like me, even if only the littlest bit.

And in these past few months since the whole BEGA thing, the nice part about being with him was that it was kind of like we'd…I don't know. It was like we were used to each other now. We still argued, and he still pissed me off a lot, and I guess maybe I could be a bit annoying to him, too, but in a way it was like we'd gotten close. He no longer minded me being around him. We'd actually started being able to hang out and maybe even have a normal conversation – well, as much of a conversation as he ever has. Usually it was me talking, and him kind of laughing, and maybe occasionally adding in a sarcastic comment or whatever. It was like...it was like we were at peace with each other. Hey, it was progress.

"Well, hey there, Kai," I said, plonking myself down on the next swing to his. He looked up, moodily – but when he saw it was me, his face softened, and he gave me that small, unbelievably happy smile of his. I've only ever seen him use it around me and Tala, so it's kind of special.

He looks very hot when he smiles.

"Hey," he said, softly.

"It's nice out here," I said, thoughtfully. "Kind of…I don't know. Quiet."

"Unlike you," he said.

"Hey!" I defended myself, weakly. "You say that like talking's a bad thing."

"When you're talking, it is," he said.

"Yeah, I know you love me really," I told him. "Hey, I'm Tyson! I'm the World Champion! How could anyone _not_ love me?"

"You're only Champion until the next tournament," he reminded me.

"Hey, I can beat you again any time," I said.

"In your dreams, Tyson."

"I won today, didn't I?" I pointed out, thinking of that afternoon. It had been the first time we'd bladed since the finals, and, to put it mildly, it had been _awesome_. It struck me again just how much I'd missed him. I _like_ blading against him. It's kind of like blading against myself, in a weird way. I know he won't ever give up. I know he'll keep fighting to the end. What's best of all is knowing that he considers me worth fighting. I said, quietly, looking at him intently, "It was a good battle, don't you think?"

He snorted softly and returned to staring at the ground. I stared at it, too, just for fun. Hmm. Not particularly interesting. I sighed loudly. He fixed me with a glare and raised an eyebrow irritably. I shot him a dazzling smile, and sighed again, louder. He looked away in disgust. Deciding that this could be the start of a very fun new game, I slipped off the swing and darted around to stand behind him. "What now?" he snapped, twisting his head around to look at me.

Grinning broadly, I sighed.

"Tyson, if you're going to make a fool of yourself, go do it somewhere else," he said.

"Not till you've answered me!" I persisted. "Come on. That was a good battle. Admit it."

"Yes," he said. "It was. You were – very good, Tyson."

I laughed. "I guess – but dude, Championships aside, you're, like, the best blader in _history_."

He shrugged, and said, tonelessly, "If you say so."

"I do," I said, simply. "You beat Brooklyn, didn't you? Actually, you acted like some stupid show-off and almost got yourself killed beating Brooklyn, but you get the point."

"I did what?" he asked. "Excuse me? I got the job done, didn't I?" He glared up at me, and said, angrily, "If you're afraid to take risks, then you shouldn't be allowed to blade. You should know that, Tyson."

Now, see, that's one of the things I like about him so much. If he says he'll do something, he'll do it – and he does take risks. He'll put absolutely everything on the line for the one thing he believes in, and he'll fight until he's close to collapsing, and he'll still manage to pull a win. To know that someone with that sort of power, with that sort of courage, considers you to be a serious opponent, is quite cool. It's – it's like an honour to be around him, sometimes. "I do know that," I said. "That's how it should be." I looked down at him, at his upturned face, his head not quite, but almost, resting against my chest. "And you _are_ better than me. Even if I am Champion, I've got to watch my back, 'cause I know that you're going to be all sneaky and try to beat me again. You're the best blader I know. You're the bravest person I know. And…you're a nice guy to have around, you know that, Kai? OK, apart from you being, like, the world's number one grouch."

"At least I'm not the world's number one imbecile."

"I was giving you a compliment!" I protested.

"Next time, don't bother."

"Oh, excuse me for trying to be nice. Not that you'd know much about that sort of thing."

He didn't say anything for a while, and I just sort of hung around looking down at the back of his head. More stars were out, shining blue-white in the dark sky, and the street lights far away had switched on, making golden-orange smears of light in the distance. Vaguely, I wondered where the others had gone to. They'd kind of wandered off after the battle had ended, leaving just me and Kai alone together. We hadn't talked much. I'd just liked being with him. I've always liked being with him.

Struck by a sudden thought, I put my hands on his shoulders. He stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed. Gently, I pushed forward, sending the swing out a little way out into the night before catching his back against my palms again as he came swinging back. He shifted, wrapping his hands around the chains connecting the swing to the frame, moving his legs to brush the ground. I pushed him out again, this time sending him higher, his scarf flaring out dimly against the dark sky. A small part of my mind was snickering uncontrollably. Kai Hiwatari on the swing set. How…scarily adorable.

He swung back. My hands closed on his shoulders, and I bent down, whispering, "Having fun?" into his ear before pushing him out again. As he came down again I caught his warm body against my own. He looked up, and said,

"No."

But he was smiling again.

I draped my arms around his neck, resting my chin on his head. Surprisingly, he didn't kill me for it, but sat back in my arms, leaning his face tiredly into my neck. It was kind of nice – us two, together, quiet and relaxed and content. I just held him, hugging him tightly to me. After a while he sort of twisted around on the swing so that he was facing more towards me, and somehow slipped his arms loosely around my waist. His eyes were still closed as he pressed his face against my shoulder; I suddenly realised that he looked dead tired. Poor Kai. It had been a rough time for him – watching Tala get so badly hurt, recovering from Brooklyn's attacks, losing Dranzer – and I'd hardly done anything for him. I spent half my time complaining to myself about how much I cared about him, about how much he meant to me, and I hadn't even bothered to ask how he was doing. Feeling kind of bad, I stroked his hair, really gently. He looked up. His eyes were cold and quiet and proud, indifferent as ever, but there was something in them that was softer, something in them that was almost happy. "Are you OK?" I asked, sort of hesitantly.

The look on his face was like nothing else I'd ever seen – annoyed and amused and affectionate all at once. "Yes," he said. "I'm OK."

I squinted down at him, peering closely into his face. "No, you're not," I said. "No fooling me, Kai. I know enough of what goes on in that twisted little mind of yours to know when something's bothering you. What's up?"

He shrugged, his eyes closing again. His head kind of drooped forward against mine, so that we were cuddled together, cheek-to-cheek, his hair tickling me, his arms tightening around my back. "Nothing," he said in a whisper, his breath warm on my skin.

"You liar," I said, and kissed him.

At first it was like my lips just kind of melted into his. There was just this incredible feeling of warmth, of softness. Then he pulled away with this little gasp, this small exclamation of surprise. It sounded almost like he'd been hurt, or something. He looked down, not meeting my eyes. I suddenly got this really bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I had about three seconds to start babbling an explanation before he punched me in the face and ignored me for the rest of my life. Did he even like guys? Was he maybe into chicks? OK, not like he ever looked twice at _anyone_, but maybe he was crushing on some girl and I hadn't even noticed...how did I get myself into this mess...?

And then he looked up, and his eyes met mine, ferociously triumphant. His face kind of had this hard, powerful look on his face, like he'd just won the hardest, toughest battle of his life – and underneath it, there was this peacefulness, this strength. I didn't even have time to say anything before he kissed me again, his mouth slamming into mine, his breathing hard, his arms wrapping themselves around me and slipping up under my cap, cradling my head. I kissed him back, my heart beating harder than I'd ever known it to in my life, my entire body on fire with adrenaline. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't breathing. All I was doing was…

…kissing Kai Hiwatari.

Now I _know_ I'm crazy.

Maybe 'cause I kind of needed to breathe, I moved my head back just the littlest bit, looking down into his face. He was still smiling. The sight of it made me laugh, this little broken, bubbling laugh. I realised then that there was this lump in my throat, and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I gave this little choked, half-laugh sound, and then I felt a warm trickle of liquid slide down my face. I was just so…happy. He was smiling at me. He liked me. He _did_ like me, even though he'd spent the whole time we'd known each other yelling about how much he hated me.

I sat down on the grass, suddenly, still looking up at him. He got up off the swing, slowly, and knelt down next to me, slipping his arms around me, bending his head down to my shoulder. I threw my arms around his neck and pressed my face against his chest, still crying like an idiot.

"I _told_ you there was nothing wrong," he said, crossly, into my ear.

"You're stupid," I said, sniffing. "Took you long enough to _realise_."

"Realise what?" he asked, moving his head so he could look into my face.

I grinned through my tears. "That I'm irresistible, of course," I told him. "Hah! Even Kai cannot resist my dazzling charm and amazing good looks! The world will bow before me!"

"Don't start," he warned.

"Hey, dude, you just kissed me. You have to like me now," I informed him.

He didn't answer for a while, looking away, out into the night. Eventually, he said, quietly and quickly, his voice hard, "I do…like you. I always have. I…trust you, Tyson.You're all that matters. Everything I ever did – all those battles – you were always at the back of my mind. I kept thinking, 'What would Tyson think of me? Would he be proud of me?' I…I kept trying for perfection again and again, screaming at myself to try harder, to do better, because of you. I wanted to show you how good I was, to see how hard I'd worked, just for you. Always you, Tyson. Everything."

Well, that was pretty scary.

It also made me cry all the more. For me? He did everything for me? Well, how did he think I felt? It felt like I'd spent my whole _life_ trying to show him how much I cared, trying to get close to him, wanting to be with him. I loved him so much. I just wanted him to _know_, finally and for always, how important he was, how brave and loyal and courageous he was…and also maybe how very sexy he was, although _that_ would probably have to wait for another day.

I caught his face in my hand, and turned him so that he could look at me. His eyes looked suspiciously wet, too. I looked at him, at his hard, determined, pale face, at the old scars still gleaming faintly in the moonlight, at his eyes, filled with rage and passion and power, and the strong, unforgiving graciousness that is so much a part of him. I knew I had to tell him. I had to let him know what he meant to me, but I couldn't. I just couldn't. All I could say was, "If that's the case, Kai, you seriously need a hobby."

"You are an idiot," he said, catching the hand pressed to his cheek and holding it tightly.

"I know," I whispered, curling my fingers around his, and bringing his hand up to my lips. I had to tell him. I pressed my face close to his, and said, "I'm an idiot who loves you, just by the way."

He said, "Oh."

I could have killed him for that. "Oh? Gee, Kai, you could at least say a bit more than one little...syllable-thingy!"

"Maybe I was afraid you wouldn't understand anything that was longer than one _syllable-thingy_," he said, casutically, stroking my cheek, idly tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. His touch was making me tremble, even though my skin felt burning hot.

"Dude! I just...said that I...I...you know...and all you can say is 'Oh'?"I spluttered.

"It seems so."

"OK, well I'll tell you what else _seems so_," I sniffed. "It _seems_ to me that even though you are the world's biggest prick, I love you more than any other person on the whole stupid _planet_. Don't ask me why, 'cause I have absolutely _no_ idea, but..."

Stroking my neck very gently, he said, "Why, Tyson?"

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Not going to tell," I said, pouting.

"Fine," he said, shrugging. "Not like I care."

What? Oh, no way was ignoring me. I reached out and threw my arms aroundhis neck, curling myhands up to cradle his head, our noses touching. I said, "I love you because for as long as I've known you, you always looked out for me. You forced me to work harder, you made me do the best I could, and you _never_ let me give up. I love you because...I..." I was crying again. "I'd do anything for you, I swear. It's just...so..gah! Look, I love you because you're Kai, and that's all I want." I pouted up at him definatly. "You."

He tilted his head, andsaid, "Oh." Then his lips met mine.I tasted tears, salty and bitter-sweet, before opening my mouth fully and kissing him back, taking in everything I could of him, still frantically trying to show him how much I cared. Slowly, slowly, we sank down onto the grass, still kissing, wrapped in each other's arms. It was like something from a movie. Half of me still couldn't believe it was happening, and was shouting, _Earth to Tyson! We're waking up now! _

The other part was going, _Oh, no. I like this dream. No way am I waking up._

And in a way, it was kind of like I knew then that even though it seemed like evrything was over, like everything was ending, that wasn't true. Because, I mean, it wasn't like I was ever going to stop blading, right? And it wasn't like I was _ever_ going to forget the Bladebreakers. And Kai and I - we'd keep blading. We'd keep fighting. There'd be more tournaments, and more arguments, and more...um, well, yeah...the point is, I knew then that it wasn't over.It wasmore like it was starting all over again. Just him and me, the way it was that first day when I'd battled him for the first time, and decided that he was the biggest pain in the neck I'd ever met. Just him and me, working on each other's nerves.Just him and me, best friends. Maybe it was a mix of all those things - knowing each other better than we knew ourselves, trusting each other, depending on each other, envying and admiring each other...loving each other?

Apparently.

He broke the kiss, and said, irritably, almost as though he were embarrassed, "Could this count as a hobby?"

I smiled, and gave a little sob, and said, "Oh, yeah."

* * *

**Reshki:** This is what comes of writing while listening to _Bridge over Troubled Water_. 

**Kai:** As if you don't write enough fluff already.

**Reshki:** I know, I know. I'm switching to Simple Plan now.

**Kai:** Did this have a point? AT ALL?

**Reshki:** Nope. And I still can't write kisses. Hey, it's not my fault. I'm…under-experienced.

**Tyson:** Hang on, this is getting interesting. You mean you've never…?

**Reshki:** _(covers ears with hands) _Oh, sorry, I'm afraid I can't hear you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some brainwashing to do. _(gets out pendulum and swings it around)_ You are all getting sleepy…very sleepy…close your eyes…when I snap my fingers you will be completely under my command! _(snaps fingers)_ REVIEW!

…even if it is only to tell me how much of a failure this was **x.X;;;**


End file.
